Are we forgetting how to talk to
each other? That’s the premise of a recent
story in the
U.K.’s Daily Mail, which turned to a professor from M.I.T. for some insight into this potential social
game-changer. According to Professor Sherry Turkle, we
are becoming used to online conversations that allow us
time to prepare our remarks in advance and at the same
time ignore those who bore us. Then, when we enter real
life social situations, we are unable to engage in
actual conversation.

Professor Turkle recently authored
a book on the subject titled “Alone Together: Why We
Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.”
It addresses a kind of isolation that is caused by
social networks. She warns that if the technology begins
to dominate our lives, it may create a sense of
isolation that can make us less social, and thus less
human.

It seems obvious when you consider how many times
you can look around a restaurant and see people sitting
at a table in silence, each busily interacting with
their smartphone instead of each other. Even business
meetings are losing their impact as attendees glance at
their tablets and phones. The professor cited extremes
such as mourners at a funeral checking their iPhones.

With people adopting technology at earlier ages,
children are becoming attached to their devices. This is
evident at any multi-generational gathering where you
see older family members talking and listening to each
other, while the younger members are busy texting each
other – often texting others in the same room. Turkle is
worried that if we begin avoiding certain parts of human
conversation, we might forget what makes conversations
human. Something to consider the next time you join a
party.